Baby to Boy overnight!!!!

Each of these HUGE milestones probably deserve a post of their own, BUT since I'm soooooo far behind, they'll get squeezed into one!  There was no way I was attempting taking away the pacifier nor potty training until we were settled into our new house and finally into a routine again.  The amount of summer traveling and airplane flights would have been torture for all!  I went cold turkey with the pacifier just like I did with Kai and just told him one afternoon at naptime that I couldn't find his wawas.  He went with it!  All three kids were wawa babies and I couldn't imagine raising one who wasn't!  It altered his sleep routine though because I needed to stay with him to fall asleep and that has now stuck (ugh, which is the lesser of two evils??!!??)  Sleep has got to big the biggest parent challenge...and it doesn't stop because Hailey still gives us issues because she's such a night owl!!!!  Secretly, I don't mind the snuggles though, sigh, my baby is growing too fast!   

 His 2nd milestone was his first haircut!!!!!!!!!  Man, those curls were tough to let go of...

I knew the golden highlights would be no more....

BUT mornings like this made the decision a little easier!!!! 

We met Leevi at the barber shop on post while the girls were at school and buzzed him up!!!

He did great and sat still for a really long time...

Not so sure...

Leevi held him for the final touch ups...

We surprised the girls at the bus stop!!!!

They knew it was coming eventually....we all cried together! :)  He was instantly such a little boy!!!!

Leevi gave him his 2nd haircut about a month and a half later!  He'll keep cutting it, but we haven't decided if we'll keep it short or let it grow a bit!

The 3rd milestone was potty training and I'm so proud of this kid...he was on it!!!!!!  The girls were super easy and I've heard so many mixed stories about boys, but he rocked it!!!!!  Potty training literally has to be a crash course and THAT IS ALL YOU DO FOR 3-4 SOLID DAYS!!!!!  He was so sick of me asking him if he needed to go potty!!!  :)  Day 2 was horrible, but day 3 was amazing and he never looked back!!!  He was naked for a good 2 weeks at home and the biggest battle was when we had to leave the house for something for the girls/church and the confusion that comes with pull-ups. 

He spends most days at home in his undies just for quick access to the potty!  So proud of this little man!!!

Double sigh, my big boy...these pictures were taken almost exactly 2 yrs apart!!!  The one on the right might be my favorite ever!!!!

First Day of School 2014

I love this picture!!!!  If they weren't holding Back to School signs, it would totally be our Christmas card photo this year!!!!  Luke was willingly posing, AND smiling, AND looking at the camera, wow! :)  

Sigh, 3rd grade already!!!!!  She's at her own school this year, Freedom, for 3rd-5th grade.  The girls might be in high school before they actually attend the same school!!!!

Double sigh, Kindergarten, already???!!!  Sniff, sniff!!!  Kai is at East (k-2) and she has the same teacher that Hailey had for kindergarten in Germany....how amazing is that!!???!!  Talk about a small world!!!!!  I think I was so comfortable with Kai starting school because we already knew what outstanding education was coming her way!!!  So blessed!!!

It's so true...they all know I'm a sap!!!!!  I just realized the other day that Luke will start kindergarten the same year that Hailey starts middle school, holy moly BOX of tissues!!!

"First day of Mom all to myself"  so fun!!!!!!  I'm loving spending my days with this little man!

Even though they go to different schools, they still ride the bus together!

On the first day of school we let them ride the bus and then Leevi followed the bus to Hailey's school and Luke and I went and met Kai at her school. 

Both schools provide a free breakfast for the kids, so Luke helped himself to Kailee's banana! :)  What an awesome program!!!

We came home to a quiet house and spent the morning playing superheroes!

Lots of excitement after the first day of school!!! 

This warms my heart!!!!!!  He is always waiting for them with open arms!!!!

Fourth of July 2014

We were in the house just a few days before we had more visitors!  Leevi's brother from Texas and his family made the 8hr drive up over the Fourth of July weekend!  It was great to finally meet Cherish and their son Londale Jr. who is 2 months younger than Luke. 

Londale thinks he's a dinosaur! :)

We hit up the 4th of July festivities on post!  

Luke's first pony ride!!! 

There were a ton of animals in the petting zoo area!

The baby piglets were the biggest hit though!!!!!  Hailey, the animal whisperer, got this little one to stop squealing!  One little one got loose (thankfully not on account of one of my children!) and tore through the fields...holy moly can baby pigs move!!!!  It put on quite the show before someone finally tackled it!  (Most of the time I think Hailey looks like Leevi, but I can claim her in the picture!)

Fun back at home!

We didn't hang around on post to watch the fireworks since they didn't start until about 10:30, so the dads put on a show for us out front!  (And check out how organized that garage is after living in the house for just a few days!  Leevi doesn't mess around!!!) 

Poor Uncle!

Cherish and I took the kids to the pool on post the next morning while the dads worked on putting the backyard together (slide, trampoline, etc)

Only Hailey was tall enough for these fun slides....Kai should be by next summer!

There is a great fenced in toddler area!

There wasn't a height restriction for jumping off the diving board though!

High five, Daddies!